Will arrogant Martin County BDB cooperate with reforms?

On Tuesday, Martin County Commissioners finally laid out what they want for the controversial Business Development Board:

— Less public money: $200,000 instead of $648,000 a year, all from business tax receipt income.

— A smaller and more diverse board — Seven members, not the current 27 or the 17 the BDB proposed — that represents the whole community.

— A contract for three years, not 10.

— Commission approval of the BDB’s annual budget and a yearly audit
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— Six months notice to sever the contract, not a 2 1/2-year process.

But that’s not the end of it. The first-ever audit of BDB finances, scheduled for discussion at the Sept. 24 meeting, could reveal new issues, along with the auditor’s recommendations.

And County Administrator Taryn Kryzda has hired Balmoral Group, a Winter Park consulting firm, to meet with county officials, business leaders and residents and prepare a county economic development plan by December. The project costs $40,000 and will come out of the BDB’s budget.

Ms. Kryzda could have asked the BDB to develop a plan, as it did under its first director. But BDB leaders have said they won’t create an economic development plan on their own, though they want to advise the county’s consultant. They would implement the plan — unless they disagree with it.

That seems a pretty arrogant attitude for an organization that relies on so much public money.

Preparing the plan could delay the contract until the beginning of 2014. And, if the BDB decides to sue the county with about $260,000 in county money it still has in reserve, the process could drag on into the next election. Many hope that won’t happen.

BDB leaders did not protest the county’s suggestions, though they asked for another payment under the old contract. They didn’t get it.

Good ideas emerged from hours of talking about the BDB’s future.

One is Commissioner Ed Fielding’s proposed new membership structure: Two representatives appointed by the county, one each from Stuart, Sewall’s Point and Jupiter Island, and four from the community. Only one of the community members also can be a member of the county’s Economic Council.

BDB critics are unhappy that three executive board members now hold dual membership on both the BDB and the Economic Council. The Council is a private group not bound by Florida’s Sunshine Law.

The BDB, Commissioner Fielding said, has been “caught in a trap of cronyism, elitism and special interests.” The new structure could allow the group to “draw from everyone’s input to encourage economic development.”

Another good idea comes from Martin Commission Chairman Sarah Heard, who suggests the BDB take cues from Martin County residents’ “relentlessly passionate” interest in cleaning up and fixing area waterways.

“We have unique challenges,” Commissioner Heard said, suggesting the BDB could court firms that will “find business solutions to solve water problems.”

Water problems are global, as is the need to find solutions. Jean Michel Cousteau, she said, flew to Martin recently to promote Ecosphere Technologies. The New York Times wrote about Ecosphere last December in a story about cleaning up chemicals used in hydraulic fracking, a controversial process used to get oil and gas out of rock. Ecosphere uses ozone to clean and disinfect water, eliminating the fracking chemicals.

Commissioner Heard said collapsing ecosystems are a problem worldwide “and we’ll be spending the next several centuries” trying to pull them back from the brink.

“We should be doing this here,” she said. “We can solve problems and create economic development at the same time.”

I think that’s a terrific idea and a perfect fit for nature-loving Martin County.

There are solutions for the BDB’s problems. If the group’s leaders cooperate, they could turn the BDB into a powerhouse that really works for the county it is supposed to serve.

Sally Swartz is a former member of The Post Editorial Board. Her e-mail address is sdswartz42@att.net